Clyde to get its first opening road bridge

Ministers have approved plans to create a new bridge across the Clyde linking Renfrew and Yoker.

The crossing will be the centrepiece of the Clyde Waterfront and Renfrew Riverside project.

Backers of the plan have claimed it will create more than 2,300 jobs and inject £867m into the local economy.

New roads, walkways and cycle routes are being created to serve a 150-acre site next to Glasgow Airport which will become a manufacturing district.

The river crossing, the first opening road bridge over the River Clyde, has been designed by engineering consultancy Sweco in collaboration with Kettle Collective, the architects behind the Falkirk Wheel.

Renfrewshire Council leader Iain Nicolson said: "This is fantastic news for the entire city region and for Scotland."

He added: "The completed project and subsequent regeneration has the potential to deliver a significant economic boost to the Glasgow City region.

"Current businesses will gain access to more customers and suppliers, while new companies and developers will be attracted to locate to the regenerated waterfront.

"Communities on both sides of the Clyde will benefit from greatly improved access to their work, to education and to hospitals through the new connections which will also help reduce congestion and improve journey times."

The project is one of three being funded in Renfrewshire under the Glasgow City Region city deal.

The others are an airport investment area and the airport access project which will include a rail link from the airport to Paisley Gilmour Street and Glasgow Central.

The city deal is a £1.13bn agreement between the UK government, Scottish government and eight local authorities.

It is claimed to have helped 8,085 people into jobs through a youth gateway programme, 745 of them in Renfrewshire.